NEWS

What Actually Happened 15 Minutes Before Karabo Mokoena Was Killed & Burnt To Death

The couple left the club together. She was never seen alive again. The part-time business student’s body was found in a patch of veld in Bramley, Johannesburg, two days later by a passer-by who at first thought the body was a burnt mannequin.

Karabo had been necklaced and had had acid poured over her body. She was burnt beyond recognition.

The 22-year-old’s death has sparked national outrage and made international news following the arrest of her boyfriend. Twenty-seven-year-old Sandile Mantsoe has been charged with premeditated murder and defeating the ends of justice.

Police sources said Mantsoe, a forex trader, claimed he left Karabo in the apartment after their argument and upon his return found his girlfriend of seven months dead.

“He claims that he doesn’t know who killed her, but that he panicked and believed people would think he killed her,” said the source.

He is said to have told police how he disposed of her body.

“He said he stuffed her body into a bin, rolled it out and into his gold BMW and drove to his family home in Lyndhurst, in southern Johannesburg. He picked up a tyre, acid and a container and drove to a filling station to buy petrol, which he used to douse Karabo’s body in Bramley, where he buried her body.”

CCTV footage from Mantsoe’s apartment, seen by her family, shows Karabo and Mantsoe arriving at the flat after 1am. Shortly thereafter Mantsoe leaves the apartment in different clothes.

He comes back to the house and then leaves again. He returns with a bin. The footage shows Mantsoe and two other women leaving the house with plastic bags that seem to be filled with sheets. Mantsoe leaves the house with the body at around 2pm.

Yesterday Karabo’s father, Thabang Mokoena, fought back tears as he told of the conversation he had with his daughter’s boyfriend the day after she went missing.

“This boy has always been respectful, to the last day I spoke to him on the phone and he was lying to me.

“I called him the day she went missing and he agreed that we should meet on the Saturday. When the day came he told me he was at a funeral in Mpumalanga.